Do You Believe in Magic?
by Ridley Silverlake
Summary: Mikan moves back to her hometown to start everything over, and Natsume is a rich man who needs to get a lot of things straight. Now that fate has its unexplainable ways of fixing both their lives, they find it pretty hard to know what to expect.
1. Mikan Sakura

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Gakuen Alice or any of its characters.

**Note: **This is an AU fanfic, so yea. Just so you guys know. Enjoy.

**Do You Believe in Magic?**

**1: Mikan Sakura**

'_Just close your eyes. Close your eyes and stare into the dark.'_

'_It's not working.'_

'_Of course it's not; you only tried for five seconds. Do it again, longer. Close your eyes, stare into the dark and think of your happy place.'_

'_But I don't have a happy place, daddy.'_

'_What? Silly girl, everyone has their own happy place.'_

'_I don't think I do.'_

'_Well, then you can borrow mine, but just this once. And you have to promise not to touch anything there, OK? Because if you do, everything your mother fixed up won't be in order, and you know how she gets when things get all messed up, don't you?'_

_Laughter. Giggles._

'_Now close your eyes. You're by the ocean and the warm breeze is blowing against your beautiful face. The sound of the waves are relaxing, the dancing palm trees remind you of how free you are, not a single worry in that young mind of yours. You're barefoot on the sand, feeling its warmth beneath your toes as you walk towards the shore, pretty shells, wet sand, your footprints following behind you. It's sunset, you watch the beautiful scene in front of you as you slowly sit by the water. You're now staring at the orange sky slowly fading to purple, the red sun sinking down to the horizon, the crystal water glistening, capturing your eyes, and the first star of the night as you make your wish. The sun is slowly diving and disappearing into—or shall I say behind—the ocean, and you're now lying on the sand. It's getting darker, the day fades to night, you salute the dawn ad welcome the night. Now it's pitch black…stare into the darkness, Mikan, and wait for your happy place to appear once again in your dreams.'_

_Silence._

'_Goodnight, Mikan.'_

The gentle voice that put me to sleep every night, I miss it. I always loved listening to his goodnight words. Most of the time I'd be half asleep, but I'd hear and remember every single word, and just as the words stopped coming, I'd immediately fall asleep, as if his words were a magic spell to force me into slumber. It was so soothing and calming; it never gave me nightmares, and never failed to wake me up to a cheerful morning.

Now that wonderful voice is gone, along with its possessor.

Not long after he'd left, the love of his life, driven into her own madness, took her own life and followed him to wherever he was brought to—heaven or, dare I say, hell.

That's right, ladies and gentlemen, my father, a very successful man—or so we thought—has moved on. Everybody says he killed himself due to depression, and even if all the evidence pointed to that, I refuse to believe so. My father was happy and successful. Well, that's what we all thought before we found out about his jillion-dollar debt to only about a thousand people or so. Of course I exaggerate, but he did owe a lot of money, though we didn't know that until after he died.

Then because of his debt, everything we owned was taken away from us. Our house, our money, some of our family treasures, I even had to drop out of college. All we had left was half our wardrobe and family members who'd agreed to pass us around every few months.

Sadly, while my uncle helped us empty our house and move our things into an enormous truck, my mother asked for some alone time and locked herself inside her and dad's room. When we were about to leave and couldn't get her to come out of the room, we entered through their balcony and found mom lying on the carpet with a bunch of pills and an empty bottle of whiskey that had escaped her once tight grip.

So basically, I lost both my parents within a week. Of course it wasn't easy to get over that. It more or less took me eight months to fully recover, and within that period of time, my relatives were passing me around. I moved just about twelve times.

And right when I recovered and got over the whole thing, I'd ran out of relatives to run to, just in time. So I decided to stop being such a bother and moved to New York, the big apple—that's the first time I've called it that, simply because I'd no idea why it had such byname.

So I moved to New York and spent about three months living with my best friend, Hotaru. I'd have gone crazy if it weren't for her constant phone calls to me for the past eight months.

I'd have stayed in New York, but I couldn't find a stable job. Being the klutz that I am, I learned that waitressing wasn't such a good idea, I also wasn't patient enough to pass down my guitar skills to little children, and the writing area was just out of the question. So I worked part-time in a café as their barista during Mondays and Wednesdays and sang there on Friday and Saturday nights.

It didn't earn me much though, I couldn't afford much for personal things like clothes and the like, not even food—I had to depend on Hotaru for that. All I could afford was to pay my share of Hotaru's rent, my phone bills, and transportation from the apartment to work, besides that, I'd only have about five dollars left—and all that money already coming from a month's pay.

So I had to leave New York. Although it's always been my dream to live there, I don't think it serves as a good, decent place for a poor girl like me. Now I'm taking a step down, moving back to an easier location, my hometown, San Francisco.

I lived there as a little girl up until I found my father up by the ceiling—and then my mother on the floor not long after him.

They say a story gets better with each telling, but this story hasn't been told yet, it's the first time to be shared, and it's to be shared by me. And no, this isn't going to be a story where I tell you of my hardships, it's not about me struggling to be independent when I have absolutely nothing either, and surprisingly, my parents' deaths have nothing to do with this, maybe they do, but who knows? I just started up with that to let you all know why I'm poor and homeless, and how all this started.

My _Once upon a time _hasn't even started yet—don't get me wrong, this isn't some fairy tale, I don't live happily ever after in the end. But I'm pretty sure of one thing—I'm going to tell you what true love is.

**Author's Notes:** Well, first of all, don't kill me. ü Second of all, it gets better. I know this first chapter sucked and everything, and it's too short, but I can assure you the future chapters will be a lot better. ü

Anywayss, I hope I didn't disappoint any of you.

Reviews please. ^^ I accept flames and criticisms. ü


	2. Natsume Hyuuga

**Do You Believe in Magic?**

**2: Natsume Hyuuga**

It was a rather gloomy day when Natsume was finally given his day off from work. Being the head of a company's fashion department, free time was rarely found in his timetable.

Head of a company's fashion department—he hated telling people that that was his job. Fashion wasn't his thing—neither was the designing—but what was? He had no idea, which was the whole point, he didn't know what to do with his life, so he stuck with his father's plans of making him work for their company, and later on, taking over the whole thing. It was his only choice, it was an easily obtained job; he didn't have to work very hard to get the position he had now because his father already had it ready for him.

He was a busy man, but he earned tens of thousands a month, so maybe he was happy with that because that's how he could afford his two-story apartment.

It had a living room that could hold about ten people, a kitchen with tiled floors and marble counters, a dining room good for six, a guest's restroom by the living room, and a coat closet by the entrance. By the dining area was a spiral staircase that led to the second floor where you could find two guest rooms, another bathroom for guests, and a huge window in the hallway where you could look down to see the living room and of course his master bedroom—an en suite with his king-sized bed, his own bathroom and a balcony where you could see the famous San Francisco bridge.

On his day off, he'd originally planned on sleeping in, but due to force of habit of waking up at 5 AM, he was forced to take a long jog in the morning and he managed to have a heavy breakfast after two months of only having two small meals a day. After that, he sat on his couch flicking through channels in his thirty-six-inch plasma screen TV. Nothing to do.

He was bored, not bored like in his office bored, but bored with nothing to do. He took a quick shower and got into his jeans, a dark blue button-down shirt, and white Nike runners. He took his wallet, cell phone and keys, and headed out the door.

He didn't take his car today; he didn't feel like it, maybe he wanted to take in some of the little everyday things he'd been missing out on. _Yeah, right_. He'd run out of gas the other day is all.

He walked to a store to buy a can of cream soda and a bar a Violet Crumble, his favorite chocolate since he was a kid. He pocketed the chocolate bar and took a sip from his soda as he made his way to wherever his feet would take him—a Chinese restaurant?

He stared at the red building across the street and saw a cheerful Chinese-looking girl in a waitress outfit holding a tray of what looked like fortune cookies. He crossed the street when he was given the signal to, and approached the girl. 'Care for a fortune cookie, sir?'

'No, thank you, I forgot my wallet at home.' He lied, refusing to take cheap pastry from a foreigner.

'Oh, but it's free.' She smiled, 'Take one, sir.' She took Natsume's hand, put a fortune cookie in it, and folded his fingers back to make sure it was safe and secure.

He simply stared at her, freaked out by how insistent she was, 'OK then.' He held the cookie and stared at it like he did to her, then looked up at the waitress again, 'Thank you,' he said with slight hesitation, put the cookie in his pocket, and walked away.

He'd already walked three stores down, continuing on to his unknown destination until he heard the girl's voice shouting, 'Have a good day, Mr. Hyuuga.' He looked back and she'd disappeared. 'Weird,' he muttered to himself.

Natsume took his last sip of his soda and tossed it into a nearby garbage can. He reached into his pocket to grab the chocolate bar he'd put inside earlier, but ended up taking out something else.

The fortune cookie sat on his palm as he pondered on whether or not he should open it. After two minutes of trying to make a decision, he started to think of why he even hesitated in the first place, why he was so afraid of cracking a tiny little Chinese cookie in half. So he tore open its thin plastic wrapper and kept it in his pocket. He held both ends of the cookie in each hand, broke it right down the middle, tossed one of the halves into his mouth, and took out the tiny piece of paper inside.

_Depart not from the path which fate has you assigned._

'Whatever.' He swallowed what was in his mouth and consumed what was left of his little snack, then he crumpled the tiny piece of paper and flicked it toward the gutter.

He went on walking until something else caught his eye—a manga store. 'Haven't read any of those in a while.' Just as he was about to cross the road, he felt his shoe was untied, so he moved to the side by a wire fence and got down on his knee. He tied his clean, white Nike's shoelaces together and switched to his other foot to make sure he wouldn't have to get down to tie his shoelaces again.

As he got up from his position, he felt one of the broken fence's wires catch on to his dog tag and break it off his neck. 'Shoot.' He got back down and looked for it, feeling the ground, waiting for his hand to feel its cold metal. _Nothing._

'Where the hell is that?' He stood back up and searched for it, but it was nowhere to be found, not on the cement ground, not on the grass by the wire fence, not in the dirt inside the fence. He dug through his pockets, he shook his clothes just to make sure it wasn't hanging somewhere on him, he felt his neck making sure his feeling the chain break off wasn't just his mind playing tricks on him. Nothing.

'Damn it.' He pulled himself together and entered the manga store, 'Never mind that old thing, I can probably have a new one made in no time.' He told himself.

He went to the action section of the store and looked around for something good to read. He took one of the books and slowly flicked through the pages, checking whether it was worthy of reading, and stopped at a page when something caught his eye—it was a really tiny piece of paper, no more than three and a half inches long, and it looked like it had been folded and crumpled. He took it, turned it over to see what was written, his eyes widened for a moment not long after he read it.

_Depart not from the path which fate has you assigned._

'This is bullshit.' He put the manga back on the shelf where it belonged, stepped out of the store and ripped the paper to pieces, just to make sure it would never follow him again.

He checked his watch, it was lunchtime but he didn't feel hungry at all, maybe it was a result of never getting real meals in a day, but today, he wanted to be normal. So Natsume took a bus, got off, walked a couple blocks down, saw a gift store and spotted Starbucks right next to it.

He opened the glass door of the café, causing the bell above him to ring and alarm the barista. There was no one in line, lucky him. 'Good afternoon, sir, what will you be having?'

'I'll have a venti caramel cream frappuccino and a chocolate hazelnut muffin for here.' He said in just one breath, taking out twenty dollars from his wallet.

'May I have your name, sir?' Victoria, as said on her nametag, asked with a smile so huge, it could've gotten stuck if she kept it on for another minute.

'Natsume.'

She grabbed a plastic cup and wrote Natsume's name on it with a marker. 'One venti caramel cream frappuccino and a chocolate hazelnut muffin for here, please!' The barista screamed at what seemed like nothing—or no one—to get the people behind the counters working.

'That'll be six twenty-five please.' That smile, Natsume couldn't help but wonder if her face has started to hurt yet when he placed his twenty-dollar bill down on the marble counter.

It went on like normal, the barista thanking him, stating how much she received, stating his change as she gave it to him, giving him his receipt and asking him to present it once his name was called out for him to get his order.

Natsume took a seat on a single couch by the window. A minute later, he was called for his order, he carried the tray back to his table and got himself a straw and sat back down on the soft, comfortable seat he was lucky enough to get.

He took a bite from his muffin, then a sip from the cold frappuccino. He took his phone out to check for missed calls or messages, but there was nothing. 'Wow, they mean it when they say day off.'

He pushed his phone back into his pocket, grabbed his frappuccino, leaned back on the couch and drank from his thick plastic cup.

_Ring._

He heard the bell above the door ring, and for some odd reason, his eyes were pulled to look at the girl who'd just entered, then something caught his eye.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **Yes. I've finished. :D Reviews please? [: I'd love to read comments and critique, so keep them coming. [:

I still think it's too short. Grr.. ]: Oh well..

[I only got 5 reviews for the first chapter. T^T]


	3. Hexed

**Do You Believe in Magic?**

**3: Hexed**

'_Close your eyes and stare into the dark._' It just never fails. All those things he would tell me for me to fall asleep at night, every night it would be different, but they always had that one same line in them.

I open my eyes after what seemed like a 2-hour nap. I need to walk, I need to stretch—and going to the bathroom didn't help much with that. Six hours of sitting in a plane on my way to San Francisco—not fun.

They've just announced that we're landing; I look out the window and I can see the water and the tall buildings. I'm excited and anxious at the same time. Coming back to my hometown after so long. It makes me wonder what I'm going to be doing here. Most of my friends are still probably in school, I was lucky enough that Hotaru lived in an apartment and in not a dorm at NYU.

Right now I only have a couple hundred dollars, but that's no problem, I guess. I'm going to rent a cheap apartment, get an easy job and earn money slowly, but just enough to keep myself alive. I'm going to get better jobs, I'm sure of that, and when I get enough money maybe I can go back to college… maybe not. But maybe that all just depends.

Another twenty to thirty minutes in the plane and we finally landed. I grabbed my hand-carried belongings and made my way out.

I stepped out of the plane, out of the crowd and went over to get my luggage. I was lucky enough I didn't have to wait long—it was one of the first few bags lying on the conveyor belt—but I wish I had to wait a little longer before my luggage came running to me. I just love watching conveyor belts go. It reminds me that even if we don't get what we need or what we want, there's still hope for it to come back because that's how it is. It gives us infinite chances to have what we want—maybe not instantly—but it gives me hope.

On my way out of the airport, I buy myself a bottle of water and stuff it in my handbag. I walk out of the airport with my huge trolley bag following behind me and wait for a taxi to come pick me up.

Not much happened besides the part where I tripped in front of the automatic glass doors just as soon as a tall handsome man walked past. After that, I got into the first taxi that passed by and asked the driver to take me to the closest Starbucks café to the airport.

It was only when I dug for my phone in my handbag that I noticed something weird hanging on my neck. It was some sort of tag on a ball chain. 'What is this?' It looked old, it had scratches and it was dented at some corners, but the writing was still a little visible: "_^a*&um# H#u*#$_"

'Ugh. What on earth?' I couldn't seem to make out what was written, it was so old and worn out, but I decided to keep it on me just so that in case I happen to run into its owner they'd see it.

I didn't pay much attention to how long or how quick it took; I just didn't want to walk with my huge trolley with me the whole time. We stopped by Millbrae Square; I paid for the taxi and quickly got out, dying to get something to eat.

I took my bags and my change, walked a few feet and entered the glass doors that caused a tiny little bell to ring and alarm everyone of my presence. I took a good look at the display case and the list of drinks before I went up to the counter to place my order. While I tried to decide what to eat, I noticed a guy on a couch staring at me as if I'd done something wrong. I ignored it, he was probably just staring at my messy hair, or maybe he was just weirded out by how much luggage I had with me.

'I'll have a grande Java Chip Frappuccino and a Cinnamon Chip Scone please.' I took my wallet out and realized I only had a dollar in it, 'Oh shoot!' I took the change from the taxi from my pocket and found a dollar and a few cents. That was so not covering my bill.

'May I have your name, please?'

'Mikan. I'm sorry, I meant tall, not grande.' Maybe that would pull the price lower. I'd have cancelled my scone, but I'm starving.

'Will that be for here or to go?' The barista asked with a smile that could have reached to her ears.

'For here please.' I continued digging my pockets and my bag for spare change, but ended up with nothing. Two dollars and forty-five cents was all I had.

'That'll be five dollars and fifty cents.' I felt myself twitch as her perky voice rang in my ears.

'Shoot. Could you please hold that for a while?' I took out all my belongings from the old black Gucci bag that Hotaru considered giving me after three weeks of trying to decide whether to let me have it or sell it to her college professor for a good price. But one time when she left it on the sidewalk to find her car keys, a stray dog came up and started scratching it. She decided that since her professor wouldn't pay her a thousand dollars for it anymore, I could have it. Honestly, I don't think the scratches are that visible anyway.

Everything that was inside my once full bag—including my nail file and my tampons—were now sitting on the counter—the only thing stopping me from trying to strangle the barista and pull that annoying smile off her face so I could get my drink and my scone for free.

'Maybe if I give you two dollars and forty-five cents, a nail cutter, some brush-ups and maybe a free massage—'

'Sorry, but we only accept cash.' I can't believe she kept that smile.

'Here.' A hand came from behind my shoulder and slammed down a ten-dollar bill on the counter, 'Now clean your stuff up.'

'What the—?' I looked behind me and saw a dark haired man with ruby-eyes. That was the guy staring at me earlier.

'Here's your change and your scone. Please present your receipt once your name is called in order to have your frappuccino.' The guy behind me grabbed his change. I took the receipt and asked him if he wanted to keep it since he was the one who paid.

'No.' He put his change in his pocket, but not taking his eyes off of me. Not exactly my face, but my chest. _'Ugh. Pervert.'_ I tried my best to keep my thoughts to myself, but he wouldn't budge.

I was about to thump him on the head but my drink came faster than I thought it would. 'Tall Java Chip Frappuccino for Mikan!' The tall barista behind the counter called, he was cute and only looked a little older than me. He was probably just a trainee.

I took my belongings, walked away from the dark haired guy, put my frappe on the tray with my scone and turned around to look for a table.

'Should've gotten take out instead.' I muttered to myself seeing that there were no vacant seats.

'You can come sit with me.'

I turned around to see the pervert offering me a seat, 'No, thank you.'

'OK then.' He sat on the single couch, took a sip from his frappe and put it down on the brown coffee table—which had a vacant single couch on the other side of it.

'May I sit here?' I asked, embarrassed that I rejected his offer in the first place.

'I knew you would consider doing so.' He smirked and I threw him back a bitter look, 'Go ahead, sit.'

'Thank you for paying for me by the way.' I said as I took a seat, 'I'll pay you back some other time.'

'It's nothing.' He bit his muffin and leaned back, 'So where'd you get that?'

I looked at what his eyes were glued on—my chest… again! I can't believe this guy! 'You pervert! I'm sitting somewhere else!' I took my tray, stood up and walked as fast as I could to the newly vacated table behind him.

As I walked past him, I felt something tug on my hair. I looked to my left and saw his face close to mine as he pulled me lower, 'Ow! Let go of me!'

'I didn't mean _that, _idiot_._ I meant this.' His other hand grabbed the chain hanging on my neck and looked at me.

'O-oh…' I blushed in humiliation, stood upright, and sat back down opposite him. 'I found it.'

'Where?'

'That's the funny part.' I swallowed hard, afraid of what his reaction might be, 'I found it hanging on my neck.'

'What?' He looked at me like I was crazy. I had no idea what to say or how to explain how I got it. I didn't even know it, myself.

* * *

**Author's Notes: ***sigh* Short, yes, but it would've spoiled the next part if I made it any longer. Hahah! :D

Anywayss, this is for Kate who's been waiting for this for weeks. [:

And also for Tita Cay, who encouraged and inspired me to continue writing. [:

Of course to all my readers, there may not be a lot of you, but you all give me hope. [:

Reviews? [:


	4. Strangers and Colleagues

**Do You Believe in Magic?**

**4: Strangers and Colleagues**

'If I told you the whole story, you wouldn't believe me.' I took a sip from my frappuccino hoping he'd just get the necklace back and leave me alone.

'Try me.' He leaned in.

'But it's a crazy story, you'd call me a liar if I told you.'

'Then give me a fake, believable story.'

'The more you'd call me a liar, then.' I frowned, 'Look, As much as possible, I'd prefer not to lie, especially to a supposedly kind stranger who'd paid for my food and offered me a seat.' I tried to reason as much as I could, I didn't want to have to go through him not believing me, us getting into a fight, then having to greatly apologize to a stranger who doesn't even know my name, when all there is now is my wanting to return this dog tag just so he'd stop bothering me.

'Just tell me anything. Lie or not, I demand you tell me where you got that, because the last time I checked, that was hanging on _my_ neck and it got caught in one of those wire fences, next thing I know, it went missing. If you can just tell me how that miraculously flew to _your_ neck when you just got off a plane, then I'd happily get it back and never bother you again.'

I sighed, 'Fine.' I raised my hands showing I've surrendered. 'I'll tell you the truth. I don't know how it got here exactly, or when it happened because I was asleep for most of my trip. I woke up not long before we were about to land. Then we landed, not so long after that I got all my stuff and took a cab coming here. On my way here, when I bent down to get something from my bag, I felt something dangling on my neck, and I saw it.'

He stared for a while, it took him long enough to adjust in his seat and mutter a short 'whatever' before he finished his drink off, 'I'm leaving.'

'What, you're not even going to laugh at my story or at least call me a liar?' Not that I wanted him to. I just couldn't believe he believed me so easily.

'Did you want me to?'

'It's not that. It's just…'

'It's just that I believed you so easily. Isn't that right?' Like he read my thoughts, 'It's not that. I just wanna get outta here is all.' He took one last bite from his muffin, barely finishing half of it, and stood up. I stayed quiet but he didn't head out just yet. He was standing right in front of me—it took me a while to realize that he probably wanted his dog tag back.

'Oh! Right,' I took it off immediately and handed it to him, 'sorry.'

He stepped out through the glass doors leaving me alone with my ton of belongings, 'I need to find a place to stay.' I whined.

It took me about less than ten minutes to finish everything. After that, I took the same way out as he did, though with all my things. I didn't have enough money for a cab, so I guess I'd have to find a place close to here.

I walked around the block a little and didn't find any place cheap, comfortable, or clean. I'd wandered a few more blocks down, still nothing. It was just about lunchtime and I still hadn't found a place to stay, I still carried a ton of luggage and I was getting really hungry. I'm way too impatient to stand in line for an ATM with all these things with me. So I decided to look around a little more, maybe my luck would change.

Since I've been around here for the past couple hours, I thought maybe a different place would do me better.

I got on a bus and got off on the first stop. It didn't take so long, maybe if I get to find a good place fast, I'd be able to have a not-so-late lunch.

While I walked around, I passed by this music store and heard _Für Elise_ playing outside their shop. It reminded me of when I was in the third grade when I had to play that song for a piano recital. I haven't played the piano in months. Sure, it made me feel all down and unhappy inside since my mother taught me how to play, and playing makes me miss her, but I guess I can admit I miss playing a lot.

Natsume got on a bus right after he'd left Starbucks. He dropped by another comic book store, and then headed back to his apartment. It was just about lunchtime. Natsume entered his apartment and found a box of pizza on the kitchen counter with a yellow sticky note on it.

'_Call me up. I need to talk to you. –Dad_'

'Great.' Natsume knew that the only time his father would send him something good was either when something was wrong, or if he was in trouble. They weren't a very tight family, so his father's idea of taking it easy on Natsume and his sister was to give them a treat before breaking the bad news.

Natsume grabbed the pizza box, took a can of rootbeer from the fridge, and headed straight to the living room to look for something to watch.

He found an interesting suspense movie, lowered the volume a little bit, and got a hold of his cellphone to call his father.

It rang a couple of times and he answered, '_Natsume._'

'Dad.' He said, uninterested, and took a sip of rootbeer.

'_Natsume, your secretary went into labor this morning,_' his father said on the other side of the line, along with the sound of a pen swiftly signing a piece of paper, followed by the sound of a page flipping, and then the sound of signing again. If anything, Natsume hated how his father never gave full attention to him or his sister, Aoi.

'OK, what do you want me to do about it?' As payback, Natsume tried to concentrate more on the movie instead of the phone call.

'_Nothing,_' he said, to Natsume's relief, '_except you need a new secretary now._'

'What? Why?' Natsume asked and sat up, putting his soda can down.

'_She's moving away from the city to raise her child, I actually thought she told you that herself,_' his father said, still sounding as monotonous as ever, '_so unless you want to work alone, go find yourself a new secretary._'

'Don't we have the department of human resources to do that?' Natsume leaned back again and took a bite from his second slice of pizza.

'Human resources hires major workers, Natsume, not assistants or secretaries, because they're supposed to be chosen by you, who has to be comfortable with them.' His father explained.

'Fine,' Natsume hung up, closed the pizza box and brought it back to the kitchen.

He headed out again, this time, on his way to the office a few blocks down. It was his day off, but after that call from his father, he had to talk to someone at the office to help him find a new secretary. He took his phone and dialed the third number on speed dial.

'_Hello?_' A low voice answered.

'Koko, it's me.' Natsume walked out of his apartment and locked the door.

'_Oh, Natsume,_' he sounded like he was in a good mood, '_I'm a little busy now, what's up?_'

'Any chance you can find me a new secretary?' He said, hoping he wouldn't have to go through the trouble of finding one on his own.

'_Well, I guess,_' Koko answered as Natsume entered the elevator, '_but shouldn't that be your job? How would I know if you'll like her?_'

'It doesn't have to be a girl, you know,' Natsume replied, 'isn't there someone in your contacts list that needs a job?'

'_Fine, hold one while I take a look,_' Koko sighed.

Natsume stepped out of the elevator. As he walked towards the exit, he spotted her again, walking past his building, right outside the glass doors.

'Koko, forget it,' Natsume told his friend over the phone.

'_What?_' Koko spoke through the phone.

'Never mind finding me a new secretary,' Natsume said, 'I think I've found one.' With that, Natsume hung up and slid his phone into his pocket.

'Hey!' Natsume ran out of the building and pushed the glass doors open. The brunette crossed the street and walked along while pulling her trolley bag behind her, obviously, not hearing Natsume's first call.

'Hey!' Someone called from behind me. I turned around and saw the jerk from this morning. I saw him inside the building across the street a few seconds ago, I didn't worry much, gladly thinking he wouldn't bother me.

I stopped and waited for him to get across the street, 'What do you want?'

'Judging by your luggage, I'm taking it you're new here,' he said, though his statement sounding a little bit like a question.

'Yea, why?' I asked.

'Do you need a job? 'Cause I can give you one.' He panted.

'You don't exercise much, do you?' I laughed, 'You ran here from that building a few meters away and you're tired.'

'Wha—' he looked annoyed, 'that's not the point! Do you want a job or not?'

'Sorry,' I calmed myself down, 'I guess it depends, what job are we talking about?'

'You can be my secretary,' he said, 'well, assistant, since it has a better ring to it.'

'Why are you offering me a job?' I crossed my arms over my chest.

'Because you obviously need one, and I need a secretary.' He said.

'Okay,' I said, I guess I do need a job if I'm going to pay for a place to live, 'what do you do anyway?'

He sighed, 'I'm head of a fashion department.'

I cracked up again, 'A fashion department? Way to go to man up.'

'Shut up,' he massaged his temples with his hand, 'do you want the job or not?'

'Alright, but I need a place to stay first,' I sighed.

'Well, then you're in luck,' he said, 'there's a vacant apartment just two floors below mine, you can stay there.'

'In _that_ building?' I pointed at the tall black building he came from across the street, 'No way can I afford to live there. I can't even afford looking at it.'

'My dad gives discounts to employees.' He said, with a tone stating his being unconcerned about my lack of cash.

I glared at him, wondering if this was a good idea. I hardly knew this guy, and moments ago all he was to me was a jerk who thought I stole his necklace. I doubt he even knew my name. What's he thinking hiring a stranger? For all he knows, I could be the clumsiest person alive and end up spilling his morning coffee everywhere—which, I'm sure, is highly possible.

He's right though; I do need a job and a place to stay.

'When do I start?' 

* * *

**Author's Notes: **Ok, so obviously, I'm not inspired enough_. _And I know what you're thinking, _boss and secretary = cliché_. Well, just wait. Anyway, I hope I didn't bore you. :P


End file.
